It’s crunch time in Pasadena, where much of the planet will focus attention on a five-mile stretch of Colorado Boulevard just after sunrise New Year’s Day morning.

In the last hours before the Tournament of Roses Parade, float builders are putting the finishing touches on their floral creations and equestrian performers are galloping through their final paces.

The world-famous parade, unfolding for its 124th year at 8 a.m. Tuesday, can spell high anxiety and higher anticipation for the thousands of volunteers who spent months working toward a single-minded goal.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Charlene Zettel, chief executive of Donate Life California, a San Diego charity that for the 10th year in a row is producing a float for the parade. “Right about this time, they go into long shifts. It can even be 24 hours, depending on how the last minutes go.”

This year’s event includes a number of entries from San Diego County, perhaps none bigger than the “Journeys of the Heart” float being prepared by Donate Life California.

The design of interlocking hearts is aimed at inspiring people to register as eye, tissue and organ donors.

“It’s about the miracle of saving lives through organ and tissue donation,” Zettel said of the float her charity produced. “People are passionate about this.”

Donate Life California operates a state registry for people who agree to donate body parts when they die. One of the 2013 honorees on the Donate Life float is Jeremy Henwood, the San Diego police officer killed on duty last year.

Debra Duncan-Montoya of Valley Center will be participating in her third Tournament of Roses Parade in the past four years, but it will be the fourth for her 19-year-old Arabian, Sol Spirit. A friend rode the purebred in the 2005 event, she said.

Duncan-Montoya is part of the Costumed Arabians Region One group, a team of 13 riders from across Southern California who will don traditional outfits and trot up Colorado Boulevard in a pie-shaped formation for two hours.

Duncan-Montoya won her seat on the group by writing a winning essay based on this year’s parade theme, the Dr. Seuss-inspired “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” The theme, of course, further links the parade to San Diego. The Dr. Seuss books were by Theodor Geisel, a La Jolla resident who died in 1991.

“Even though this will be my third time I’m so excited,” Duncan-Montoya said. “When you turn that corner and you see all the people and hear the crowd, it gets very emotional.”

This year’s event is Tournament of Roses President Sally Bixby’s 24th. In a telephone interview Friday, Bixby said the final days may be frantic and crazy, but everything somehow comes together.

“We manage it because we have so many dedicated volunteers who have the same goal — to make sure it goes off without a hitch,” she said. “We are all very motivated people who want to give back to the community and love doing it.”